Snap-seal.



Patented July 23, I901.

E. J. BROOKS.

SNAP SEAL.

(Application filed May 18,- 1901.;

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Patented July 23, I90]. E. J. BROOKS. Y

SNAP SEAL.

(Application filed Ma 18, !901.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

SNAP-SEAL.

srncrrrcnmon forming part of Letters Patent No. 679,104, dated July 23, 1901.

Application filed May 18, 1901.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD J. BROOKS, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of East Orange, in the State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Snap-Seals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to self fastening seals or snap-seals, as they are commonly termed, adapted for use as substitutes for lead and wire seals and other press-fastened sealing devices to secure the doors of railway freight-cars and for other like purposes. Previous forms of such snap-seals are set forth in my specifications forming part of United States Letters Patent No. 303,417, dated August 12, 1884; No. 304,258, dated August 26, 1884; No. 312,963, dated February 24, 1885; No. 314,994, dated April 7, 1885; No. 340,932, dated April 27, 1886; No. 345,764, dated July 20, 1886; No. 348,509, dated August 31, 1886; No. 353,246, dated November 23, 1886; No. 524,974, dated August 21, 1894; No. 526,217, dated September 18, 1894; No. 538,892, dated May 7, 1895; No. 619,704, dated February 14, 1899; No. 623,941, dated April 25,1899; No. 654,598, dated July 31,1900, and No. 673,996, dated May 14, 1901.

The present invention is more particularly an improvement on the sheet-metal seal part of the snap-seal of said Patent No. 524,974 and the sheet-metal shackle of said Patent No. 673,996.

. In constructing seal parts of snap-seals from sheet metal difficulty has been experienced in successfully guarding against tampering with the holes through which the ends of the shackle are inserted by bending or springing the sheet metal. This difficulty is greatly increased when the shackle is of sheet metal, owing to the necessary oblong shape of the inlet-holes.

The leading object of the present invention is to prevent any violation of the seal by tampering with the inlet-holes of its sheet-metal seal part.

' Another object is to prevent any manipulation of the catches within the seal part; and a last object is to reinforce the sheet-metal shackle, so as to preclude accidentally breaking it where it is weakened by forming snap- Serial No. 60,879. (No model.)

catches integral therewith by means of incisions, as set forth in my last previous specification forming part of said Patent No. 673,996.

Two sheets of drawings accompany this specification as part thereof.

Figures 1 and 2 are face and edge views, respectively, of an improved sheet metal shackle forming part of the new snap-seal. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are respectively top, side, and bottom views of the companion seal part. Fig. 6 is asectional elevation of the complete snap-seal, showing it applied to a pair of cardoor staples and fastened. Fig. 7 is a face view of one end of a modified sheet-metal shackle. Fig. 8 is an edge view of a shackle of fiat wire. Figs. 9, 10, and 11 are respectively top, side, and bottom views of a modified seal part. Figs. 12 and 13 are respectively plan and sectional views of another modified seal part. Figs. 14 and 15 are respectively plan and side views of a third modified seal part. Figs. 16, 17, and 18 are respectively top, side, and bottom views of another modified seal part. Fig. 19 is asectional elevation of an improved snap-seal embodying the latter, showing it applied to cardoor' staples and fastened; and Fig. 20 is a magnified cross-section through one of the shackle ends.

Like letters and numbers refer to like parts in all the figures.

The improved snap-seal in any of its forms is composed of a flexible shackle A and a hollow seal part B, the latter in all cases of suitable sheet metal.

The shackle A is in all cases provided at its respective ends 1 and 2 with snap-catches 3 and 4, and the seal part B has in all cases a pair of inlet-holes a and b,fitted, respectively, to the shackle endsl and 2, and is constructed with rigid flanges or walls 0, projecting inward and serving to stiffen the edges of the holes a and b, which they surround, and to form inclosed vestibnles between the entrances to the seal part and its inner chamber d.

In the species represented by Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, both parts of the improved snapseal are of novel construction. In this species the shackle A, Figs. 1 and 2, is of sheet metal and is constructed on the generalprinciple set forth in said last previous specification with oppositely-projecting snap-catches 3 and 4, formed by L-shaped incisions at the respective edges of each shackle end, and with oppositely-projectinginlet-guards 5 and (5, adjacent to the shoulders formed by said catches and between the same and the body of the shackle. According to the presentimproveinent it is further constructed with hollow stilfeningribs '7, Fig. 20, extending longitudinally, as in Figs. 1 and 2, from beyond said incisions near the extremities of the shackle to points beyond said shoulders toward the body of the shackle, so as to stiffen these portions of the shackle ends and prevent the same from being accidentally broken where they are weakened by said incisions. Said stiffening-ribs serve also as additional entrance-guards to prevent manipulating the catches by an instrument inserted through the inlets of the seal part. The improved seal part B, Figs. 3, 4, and 5, is composed of two cup-shaped blanks of substantially similar dimensions, each provided with one of the inlets a and b and the vestibule-wall c belonging to the same and united with each other by a circumferential seam e at midheight of the seal part, whereby the strain incident to stretching the metal to form said vestibule-walls and the side walls of the seal part is equally divided and distributed, and a lower grade of metal may consequently be used than is otherwise necessary. In this species the inlets a and b are further protected by rigid contracting flanges or inturned edgesfat the inner extremity of each vestibule-wall, as shown in Fig. 6.

The shackle A and seal part B are conveniently united at one end of the former, or, in other words, one end of the shackle may be fastened at the factory or preliminary to carrying the seals. The other end of the shackle is passed through a pair of cardoor staples C, Fig. 6, or the like, and is fastened in like manner by thrusting its extremity into the other inlet of the seal part. \Vhen either end is so introduced, the catches 3 and 4 are forced back approximately into the plane of the body of the shackle in passing through the contracted opening surrounded by the edgesf at the inlet a or b. On passing these edges they spring apart, and the shackle end is thus permanently secured against withdrawal with its inlet-guards 5 and 6 within the vestibule to the chamber cl, formed by the wall 0 surrounding its inlet. The introduction of a tampering instrument at either side of the shackle is thus effectively guarded against and the fastening is rendered safe.

The respective ends of the shackle A may be provided with the initials of a railway (represented by R. O. R. R. in Fig. 6) and with a serial number 8496) or with other distinguishing-marks, and the respective ends of the seal part B with like marks,

as in Figs. 3 and 5, and such marks or either of them may be embossed or printed on the sheet metal at the factory or stamped thereon by the sealer, as may be preferred.

The name of the sealing-station, Chicago N. K, may take the place of a serial number on the shackle A, and its stiffening-ribs 7 may in some cases be omitted, as illustrated by Fig. 7, and in connection with the improved seal part B the shackle A may in some cases be of fiat wire, as in Fig. 8, with snapcatches 3 and 4 in the form of hooks at its extremities and inlet-guards 5 and 6 in the form of bends to occupy the vestibules within the walls 0 of the seal part.

The seal part B is preferably and conveniently round in plan, so as to be formed from circular planchets of sheet metal. It may, however, be rectangular, (orot' othershapes,) as illustrated by Figs. 9, 10, and 11, and in the square form may conveniently have any preferred lettering stamped on its flat sides, as illustrated by Fig. 10, where Chicago N. W. represents the stamped name of the sealingstation. The modified seal part B represented by these figures is or may be otherwise identical with the one represented by Figs. 3, 4,

and 5 and in Fig. 6.

In the modified seal parts B represented by Figs. 12 to 15, inclusive, the two pieces of which each seal part is composed are respectively fiat and cup-shaped, and said Fig. 15 illustrates, additionally, the omission of said inwardly-projecting edgesfat the inner extre'mity of each vestibule-wall c. The seal part B, Figs. 14 and 15, is specially designed to combine with the flat-wire shackle A, Fig. 8.

The modification illustrated by Figs. 16 to 18, inclusive, consists in forming both shackleinlets a and b in one side or end of the seal part B and both vestibule-walls 0 upon the same, as best shown in Fig. 19. The shackle A of this species of the improved seal may be substantially identical with that of the first species and provided in like manner with any suitable distinguishing-marks, and the distinguishing-marks of the seal part B may be very conveniently embossed, printed, or stamped on the fiat bottom of the seal part, as represented by B. O. Ry., 4978 in Fig. 18. Other like modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

Havingv thus described said improvement, I claim as my invention and desire to patent under this specification- 1. An improved snap-seal composed of a flexible shackle having snap-catches at both ends and a hollow sheet-metal seal part having inlets for the respective shackle ends and constructed with inwardly-projecting rigid vestibule-walls surrounding each inlet.

2. An improved snap-seal composed of a flexible shackle having its respective ends provided with snap-catches and a hollow sheetmetal seal part having inlets for the respective shackle ends and constructed with inwardly-projecting rigid vestibule-walls contracted at their inner extremities by rigid inturn'ed edges.

3. An improved snap-seal composed of a flexible shackle having snap-catches at its respective ends and a hollow sheet-metal seal part composed of two cup-shaped pieces united at mid-height of the seal part by a circumferential seam and each provided with an entrance for one of the shackle ends and constructed with an inwardly-projecting rigid vestibule-wall surrounding said inlet.

4. The combination, in-a snap-seal, of a flexible shackle of sheet metal or the like provided at both ends with snap-catches and with inlet-guards adjacent to said catches and a hollow sheet-metal seal part having an inlet for each shackle end and constructed with 

